Since shortly after the founding of the internet, the central problem facing its users has been not in the amount of information available, but rather the imperfect methods for finding that information. In the early days of the web, directories such as Yahoo! held the keys to what was then a comparatively small but rapidly multiplying pool of content.

After the directory model proved untenable and Ask Jeeves-style contextual queries proved inefficient, search emerged as the dominant form of engagement between man and machine, an engagement dominated by Google. However as the pool of content rises exponentially and noise is continually added to the system through social networks, commenting systems, and the ever-ubiquitous email, the challenge of sorting through the chaos is one that falls squarely on the human brain.

The search for defining and “database-ing” our world has led to the development of the semantic web: a formal structure for defining and organizing the information that’s out there. The video below is a fascinating dive into the development and progression of these dynamics.